Treatment of animal and vegetable oils, fats, and greases.



C. F. PAUL, Jn.

IREATMENT OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE OILS FATS, AND GREASES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- l7, I916. RENEWED DEC. 13.19I7.

Patented Apr. 30, 1918.

CHRISTIAN 1E. PAUL, JR., NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE SPALIDINGr QTY-PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CONNECTICUT.

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF TREATMENT or ANIMAL AND VEG T BLE orLs, ATS, AND GREASES.

Application filed March 17, 1916, Serial No. 84,811.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that I, CHRISTIAN F. lF'ApL, Jr., a citizen of the United States, reslding at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New J ersey, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements in the Treatment of Animal and Vegetable Oils, Fats, and Greases, of which the following 1s a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to clarifying and, bleaching fats, oils and other greases, particularly those derived from animal and vegetable sources, and its chief ob ect is to provide an improved method and apparatus for the purpose, by which pure fats, oils, and greases can be obtained.

Simple and eflective apparatus for practising my method is illustrated in the annexed drawing, in which- Figure 1v shows the complete apparatus, diagrammatically.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the-preferred type of mixer or emulsifier. I

The invention can be used to treat .all kinds of animal or vegetable greases, but for the sake of brevity the subjoined description of the preferred mode of practising theinvention is confined to the treatment of greases derived by boiling or otherwise treating parts or carcasses of dead animals. It is to be understood that in the description and in the appended claims the word grease is used in a generic sense to "include all organic fats, oils, and like substances.

The carcass or parts from which the grease is to be extracted are boiled with water in a suitable rendering tank or vessel 10, heated in any convenient manner, not shown, as for example, by injecting live steam into the vessel; The grease is thus liquefied and collects on the surface of the water, mixed with much pulpy matter, fine-1 hairs, dirt, and other foreign substances, and .is drawn ofl through a valved pipe 11 and is delivered, together with hot water supplied from any suitable source 7 (not shown) through a pipe 11, to a centrifugal separator 12. The grease is here separated from the sludge and is discharged through outlet pipe 13 into a collecting tank 14, while the waste matter or sludge is discharged through pipe 15 and may be used as fertilizer or for other purposes.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apia-310", Tat, Renewed De e ber 13, 1917, Serial No. 207,006

fa solution of the latter, nascent oxygen is liberated, with the formation of sodium hydroxid (NaOH), or caustic soda. The two tanks are connected by means of pipes 17, 18, having valves 19; 20, to a suitable pump 21, by which the grease from tank 14 and bleaching agent from tank 16 are drawn off and more or less intimately mixed. By means of the valves 19, 20, the proper proportions of grease and bleaching agent can be regulated. It will of course be understood that the proportions depend upon various factors, such as the nature of the grease and the degree and nature of its discoloration, the strength or concentration of the bleaching liquor, etc., 'but can readily be determined by trialu From the pump 21 the mixture is delivered by pipe 22 to an atomizer, or emulsifier and aerator, 23. The latter is preferably of the type shown in-Fig. 2, comprising an upright casing 24 having in its lower portion a flaring inlet 25. Cooperating with the flaring inlet is a conical spreader 26, urged ,downwardly,'toward the inlet, by' a strong spring 27, which can be regulated by a screwstem '28, Around the flaring inlet, but below the same, is an annular chamber 29 havin an annularoutlet 30 at the edge of the sai flaring inlet. This chamber is connected by i a pipe 31 to an air compressor 32. A discharge pipe 33 leads from the mixer or emulsifier to a vessel or tank 34.

The mingled grease and bleaching agent,

delivered from the pump 21 under pressure,

forces the spreader 26 slightly away from its seat 25 and issues from between the two in the form'of a conical sheet of spray which,

1 asit issues, is struck by the annular blast of air from the chamber 29. The particles composing the spray are thus furthersub divided and thereby made very fine, sothat the grease and the bleaching agent are.

brought into very intimate and close association This insureseflective action of the thickened up, though capable of flowing slowly. This material is found to be thoroughly bleached, pure and white in-color,

and free from the Objectionable odor that it had when it left the rendering .tank. It will keep indefinitely without spoiling or detenorating.

its before stated, sodium peroxid in water produces caustic soda. Being an alkali this bleaching action on any unbleached matter present. The sodium sulfate or other solvu ble salt goes into solution in the water and hence separates out with the latter. This separation will occur naturally in time by letting the material stand in a suitable vessel or tank, or can be effected rapidly 'by means of a centrifugal separator. If desired, the treatment with sulfuric acid can be omitted and the-material run through a separator at once, but in that case the liquor thus separated out may contain considerable dissolved soap as well as some caustic soda grease. thus avoided, sodium sulfate being produced and more or less bleaching agent. For the purpose of utilizing the latter, suflicient fresh chemical is added to bring the liquor up to the proper strength, after which it can be re-use Though not essential, it is highly desirable that the grease from the rendering tank be separated as soon as possible from the water and other matters with which it is mixed,

prefersulfuric acid to combine with the sodium as "I have found that immediate separation gives a greater yield of grease, of lighter color and less free fatty acid or acids.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific procedure herein described but can be practised in other ways without departure from its spirit. For ex mple, sulfuric or other suitable acid may be added directly to the sodium peroxid solution before mixing the latter with the The formation of caustic soda is directly, with evolution of nascent oxygen,

or such caustic as is formed ispromptly neutralized by the acid. Saponification is thus eliminated or greatly diminished. On the other hand, any uncombined acid may attack the vessels, pipes and other fittings unless they are made of or interiorly coated with acid-resistant material.

Theuse of Water, preferably hot (in the present case delivered throughv the pipe 11%) is not always essential; but in some cases it is highly advantageous. In general it enables more grease to be recovered from the crude'material delivered to the separator.

I claim: i

1. The method of treating grease for the purpose. described, comprising emulsifying the grease and an aqueous solution of an alkaliperoxid whereby the grease is finely divided and intimately mixed with the peroxid solution, treating the emulsion with a suitable acid to produce a water-soluble salt of the alkali, and separating the grease from the solution of such salt.

2. Themethod of treating grease for the purpose described, comprising emulsifying the grease. and an aqueous solution of sodium peroxid, treating the emulsion with 4:. The method of treating grease for the purpose described, comprising forcing the grease and an aqueous solution of an alkali peroxid'together through a narrow orifice and directinga Jet of air under pressure upon the material issuing from the orifice,

whereby the grease and the solution are finely divided and intimately mixed together, collecting the mixture in a suitable vessel, and treating it with an acid to neutralize the alkali and produce a salt soluble in the water present.

In 'testimony'whereof I hereunto afiixmy signature.

CHRISTIAN F. PAUL, JR. 

